Excellent news that tram testing has recommenced and hopefully it won't be too long until the new/updated services start.

TA3001 wrote:With the upgrades in the past year or so to include the voice from hell that is audible on the trains, along with 'please hold on' every time the trams leaves a stop, we'll certainly see a rapid increase in patronage.

Yes that voice on the trains is a shocker!! Don't mind the new voice on the trams, although I didn't have a problem with the previous one either.

So which part of 2019 or even 2023 is the actual deadline for these extensions becoming operational?

Makes me wonder how long the now canceled extension along the Parade would have taken to build and commission. I wouldn't have thought that it would take roughly a year to construct just over a km of track and test it.

At least the extension in Adelaide will be open soon. Look at the amount of time taken in Sydney on the CBD and South East Light Rail project. Admittedly greater in scale; it has taken a very long time. Buses were taken out of George St in October 2015 to allow works on the project to start. George St is still a mess, some sections still have no rails laid. Services may start next year... and may not. Adelaide's earlier extensions didn't take all that long to complete, relatively speaking. Further extensions should be relatively simple affairs though - (relatively) straight lines with occasional reversing crossovers.

The Phonj wrote:At least the extension in Adelaide will be open soon. Look at the amount of time taken in Sydney on the CBD and South East Light Rail project. Admittedly greater in scale; it has taken a very long time. Buses were taken out of George St in October 2015 to allow works on the project to start. George St is still a mess, some sections still have no rails laid. Services may start next year... and may not. Adelaide's earlier extensions didn't take all that long to complete, relatively speaking. Further extensions should be relatively simple affairs though - (relatively) straight lines with occasional reversing crossovers.

I bet Adelaide doesn't have to deal with anything like the complexity of underground services that Sydney has had to address prior to even commencing construction.

While it doesn't have an underground railway network to deal with, Adelaide will also have a labyrinth of utilities that may have needed to be replaced / relocated. Question is did it acknowledge their existence or try to gloss over like was seemingly done in Sydney.

Linto63 wrote:While it doesn't have an underground railway network to deal with, Adelaide will also have a labyrinth of utilities that may have needed to be replaced / relocated. Question is did it acknowledge their existence or try to gloss over like was seemingly done in Sydney.

Those two extension corridors in Adelaide wouldn't have anything remotely near the number or complexity of services to deal with as George St. The general extent of the issue was known at the beginning of the project in Sydney. TfNSW's process for dealing with it since then has been fraught. They're probably more efficient about these things in Adelaide.

Here we go again - another plan to run a tram line to the airport!. Why this has come up again, has me puzzled - The dedicated airport bus service (J1X) which manages to avoid traveling past most major hotels in the city, amazingly enough, carries few passengers. Why would a tram service be any different?The comments are that it would be privately funded; it would be interesting to see how the returns on capital invested stack up and by the way money was/is being spent on the North Terrace tram fiasco, I would doubt that the $500m quoted would cover the project!

Adelaide Airport tram link branded a must-do project by Civil Contractors FederationA proposed $500 million light-rail line linking Adelaide Airport to the city has been branded a “must-do” project to kickstart tourism and construction, while awakening the state from a “sleepy-hollow mindset”.The Civil Contractors Federation, which has 600 members employing 20,000 South Australians, is mounting a renewed push to win support for the privately funded project, proposed last December by one of Australia’s largest companies.The builder of Adelaide’s East End tram extension, the Downer group, lodged an unsolicited bid with the former Labor government to build, fund and operate the route, arguing a dedicated airport light-rail service would boost tourism by better connecting travellers to the city, and enhance suburban public transport.

The airport link would use a battery-powered tram, like this one in Dubai.But Labor did not proceed with the proposal, despite Adelaide Airport declaring it was “supportive of an affordable light-rail service between the airport and Adelaide’s CBD”.It is understood Downer remains keen to discuss the proposal with the Liberal Government, although Treasurer Rob Lucas has scotched the prospect of any funding support in next month’s State Budget.Civil Contractors Federation SA chief executive officer Phil Sutherland said the Budget needed to fire up private sector interest regardless of the construction giant’s continued interest.“This should particularly be among Australia’s major super funds which understand the value of backing long-term (30 years), commercially viable infrastructure operations and investments in projects such as light rail, toll-based highways and airport ownership,” he said.Mr Sutherland cited Transport Minister Stephan Knoll’s encouraging comments last month, when he vowed nothing was off the table as work begins on bringing SA’s public transport service into the 21st century.He said the proposed 6km line airport line, connecting North Tce, West Tce, Henley Beach Rd and Airport Rd, would be noteworthy for battery-powered trams, which do not need poles and wires.Civil Contractors Federation SA chief executive officer Phil Sutherland.“Any private sector proposal for the construction, funding and operating of such a logical piece of transport infrastructure, should be prioritised for consideration.“With the completion of the new hotel at the airport and plans for the major expansion of the airport precinct, the time is now right for a modern battery powered tram link to the city.“These battery powered trams are available now, and recharge while at stations and through excess energy on their grid — negating any need for the poles and wires of our existing tram network.”Mr Lucas said the airport light rail link was not a Liberal promise and would not be addressed in next month’s Budget.“Our September budget will concentrate on cleaning up Labor’s mess and keeping our promises,” he said.“There will be a significant infrastructure program and, over coming budgets, we will also need to fund our share of the billions required for the remaining sections of the South Road project.“Projects like this one, and others, will need to be considered over the medium to longer term as budgetary circumstances permit.”

Tim Williams wrote:Here we go again - another plan to run a tram line to the airport!. Why this has come up again, has me puzzled - The dedicated airport bus service (J1X) which manages to avoid traveling past most major hotels in the city, amazingly enough, carries few passengers. Why would a tram service be any different?The comments are that it would be privately funded; it would be interesting to see how the returns on capital invested stack up and by the way money was/is being spent on the North Terrace tram fiasco, I would doubt that the $500m quoted would cover the project!

I will post the article shortly

unless the tramline is separated from traffic it will be stuck in traffic

I think the new government is being super cautious and testing a lot so they can avoid an embarrassing failure for which they might cop political fallout. In the meantime delays wear on, but they can blame the previous government. If we were to just move ahead and put political point scoring behind us, we'd probably be better off and using the new infrastructure. (IMHO).